1) Field
Embodiments of the present invention pertain to the field of light-emitting diode fabrication and, in particular, to methods of epitaxy of gallium nitride and light emitting diodes on patterned sapphire substrates.
2) Description of Related Art
Group III-V materials are playing an ever increasing role in the semiconductor and related, e.g. light-emitting diode (LED), industries. Often, group III-V materials are difficult to grow or deposit without the formation of defects or cracks. For example, crack-free growth of select films, e.g. gallium nitride film, is not straightforward in many applications. Also, high quality surface preservation of select films, e.g. a gallium nitride film, is also not straightforward in many applications. The inclusion of one or more buffer layers between a substrate and a device layer has been one approach receiving much recent attention. However, group III-V materials are often sensitive to ambient conditions and care must be taken to avoid such conditions at particular periods of the fabrication process. Avoiding interaction of a sensitive group III-V film with potential damaging conditions, however, can pose many challenges.